The Supreme Court of Ohio & The Ohio Judicial System

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On Tuesday, July 17, 2012, the Supreme Court of Ohio launched an expanded news program – Court News Ohio – that features stories about the Ohio judicial system. This archived page on the Supreme Court’s website only displays case summaries that occurred before that date. Cases that were summarized on July 17 and thereafter can be found at www.courtnewsohio.gov.

Adams County Attorney Disbarred

Please note:Opinion summaries are prepared by the Office of Public Information for the general public and news media. Opinion summaries are not prepared for every opinion released by the Court, but only for those cases considered noteworthy or of great public interest. Opinion summaries are not to be considered as official headnotes or syllabi of Court opinions. The full text of this and other Court opinions from 1992 to the present are available online from the Reporter of Decisions. In the Full Text search box, enter the eight-digit case number at the top of this summary and click "Submit."

(June 14, 2012) The Supreme Court of Ohio has permanently revoked the law license of former West Union attorney Michelle Wickerham for multiple violations of state attorney discipline rules in her dealings with more than 30 clients.

In a 7-0 per curiam decision announced today, the court adopted findings by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline that Wickerham accepted fee advances from dozens of clients but then failed to attend scheduled meetings and court appearances or to complete promised legal work in the clients’ cases, failed to respond to their requests for information about the status of their legal matters, and failed to refund the unearned fee advances despite clients’ requests that she do so.

In setting the sanction for Wickerham’s rule violations, the court noted as aggravating factors that she acted with a selfish motive, committed multiple violations that caused harm to multiple clients, and failed to cooperate with disciplinary authorities in the investigation of her misconduct. The court also noted that it had imposed an interim suspension against Wickerham’s law license in April 2011 to protect the public following the filing of multiple client grievances against her, and that her license was under a separate administrative suspension imposed in November 2011 for failure to comply with biennial attorney registration requirements.